Thursday, sepTember 1, 2011
thursday
VOL. 12 NO. 65
LaCONIa, N.h.
527-9299
Free
Prolonged low interest rates challenge earnings of local banks By Michael Kitch THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
LACONIA — “This is unprecedented in modern history,” said Mark Primeau, president and chief executive officer of Laconia Savings Bank (LSB). “No one has ever faced this economic environment before.”
Primeau was referring to the prolonged mix of interest rates near zero, slack demand for loans, steady growth of deposits and low yields on investments that combines to squeeze the earnings of community banks. When Ben Bernanke, chair-
man of the Federal Reserve, announced he intended to keep interest near zero through the middle of 2013, Camden R. Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, squealed like a stuck pig. “How are community banks supposed to make a
viable margin on their funds?” he asked. For community banks, like LSB, Meredith Village Savings Bank (MVSB) and Franklin Savings Bank (FSB) that serve the Lakes Region, interest income, the difference, or see BaNKs page 10
$125K Shaker budget surplus could be used to reinstate long list of co-curricular program cuts? Annual meeting voters added extra money to pay for teacher raises but no union contract has been agreed to By Gail OBer
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
All business on opening day Carson Tucker looks to make a shot at the goal during the Laconia Youth Soccer programs opening day on Saturday morning. Hundreds of young soccer players, with their families and coaches, were at Opechee Park for the colorful opening to the new season. (Karen Bobotas/for the Laconia Daily Sun)
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BELMONT — It came as a sad surprise to one Belmont mother who, after taking her children to their first day of school, learned there would be no more after school homework club. For Angela Potter (not her real name), the parent of one elementary and one middle school child, the elimination of the after-school programs is unacceptable. “I just can’t believe it,” she said. “How can the schools not have a homework club, a student council, or a yearbook?” The short answer is money. In a Shaker Regional School Board meeting held last May that nearly see shaKEr page 12
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